Air pollution tolerance index: A sentinel for pollution control

Background/Question/Methods

Air pollution is one of the major environmental problem facing the globe today. Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) has been developed and used to identify tolerance levels of plant species based on four physiological parameters. We examined the APTI of seven different tree species growing around electricity-generating houses within the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) main Campus, Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria. Four parameters, leaf relative water content (RWC), ascorbic acid content (AA), Total chlorophyll (TCH), and pH of leave extract were used to compute the APTI of the tree species.

Results/Conclusions

We found in the order of tolerance showing Azadirachta indica (9.8) < Carica papaya (11.5) < Albizia lebbeck (14.9) < Senna siamea (17.0)